Another equity firm to buy Bloomer Holdings

BLOOMER, Wisc.—Blown and cast film maker Bloomer Holdings Inc. is being sold to Charter NEX Films Inc. in a deal between their private equity owners.

Bloomer Holdings, known in the market as Optimum Plastics, brings two locations in Bloomer, Wis., and Delaware, Ohio, to Charter NEX through the deal.

Charter NEX CEO Kathy Bolhous said in a statement the deal “marks the combination of two innovative pioneers in specialty films.”

The current Optimum itself is a result of Bloomer Plastics Inc.'s 2014 purchase of Optimum Plastics of Delaware.

That deal combined Bloomer Plastics' custom engineered cast embossed film capabilities with Optimum's high-barrier coextruded blown film business.

And now they are owned by Charter NEX.

“We have long known that these two companies belong together,” Optimum CEO Kevin Keneally said in a statement. “Our customers will gain access to a greater breadth of technical and operational capabilities, and together we can bring unique new products to market.”

Keneally will become president and chief commercial officer of the combined company, which will be led by Bolhous as CEO.

Charter NEX makes coextruded, barrier and monolayer blown films for markets including the food, pharmaceutical, medical and packaging industries. The company has manufacturing locations in Milton, Rhinelander and Superior, Wis., and Turners Falls, Mass.

Pamplona Capital Management L.L.P. of New York and London owned Charter NEX, and Huron Capital Partners L.L.C. of Detroit owned Optimum. Huron acquired in Bloomer Plastics in 2012 and added Optimum and its Ohio site two years later.

“With both cast embossed and blown film capabilities, we believe we have built Optimum into a major player in the custom films marketplace,” Keneally said in a statement.

Optimum brings annual revenue of more than $100 million, and 145 workers, to the combined company, Huron said. Mesirow Financial advised Bloomer Holdings on the sale.

“Our strategy is to continue our focus on expanding both our process capabilities and our film portfolio,” Bolhous said in a statement. “Together, we will become a more diverse business with complimentary capabilities and resources.”

Bloomer serves 11 key markets, primarily the rubber, automotive, aerospace, medical and hygiene, construction, and packaging. The firm deals in carrier sheets, structural integrity sheets and adhesion layers, among other rubber products.